Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended.
Review: "My dear Mark," the author begins, immediately establishing her fictional structure: Hadrian, approaching death, is recollecting his life expressly for the tutelary benefit of his "heir," the subsequent Emperor of Rome, the young Marcus Aurelius. There follow 295 polished and deeply imagined pages that weave across continents and plunge in and out of the most intimate recesses of his being to reveal the French Academician's artful conception of Hadrian: the boy, the athlete, the hunter, the lover, the Emperor, the near-suicide, a man. I immediately went out and looked for another book by this engaging and masterful author.
Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary character
Review: In a long letter to his successor Marcus Aurelius, the old emperor Hadrian, sick and close to death, tells the story of his life, his intense presence on Earth, over which he left traces from Scotland to Iran. Born in Spain, Hadrian is taken at a a very young age to study in Rome and Athens, where he falls in love with all things Greek. Actually he would do much to re-hellenize Rome. Then comes military life in Orient (what we call now the Middle East) and Panonia (roughly Hungary-Czech Rep.), where he acquires and comes to appreciate military values. After Hadrian is made governor of Syria, Emperor Trajan dies and appoints him as his successor. His reign begins, against his will, with the murders of four enemies. Hadrian stops Trajan reckless expansionist wars and consolidates the Empire at its highest point in wealth, power and size. Then come the happy years, when he wanders the Empire, governing and enjoying the company of his young and beloved Antinoo, who would suffer a tragic death. At an old age, he retires to his villa in Tibur, where he supposedly writes the long letter that forms this most engaging book.This masterpiece creates a living human being, one who transmits greatness, intelligence, cultivation, sensitivity and unique statesmanship abilities (not so common these days). Hadrian is, of course, a man with a big ego (how to be Emperor of Rome and not have one?), yet he is anything but vain or naïve about himself. He does not swallow the tale about emperors' divinity: he knows himself to be mortal, vulnerable and his religiosity is vague and sober. He learns to know Man. He abhors the Coloseum carnages, but shows up because he understands their role in alleviating the people's lives. The abundant lamentations over Antinoo are not very enticing for non-homosexual readers, but they are critical in revealing Hadrian's vulnerable side and consequently help humanize him. Full of memorable sentences, this book runs like water. The years and years of research and meditation aren't felt, since the prose is rich, fluid and terse, which is one of the major merits of this great book.
Rating:
Summary: Marguerite Yourcenar's Psychological Masterpiece
Review: Marguerite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian" is one of the finest examples of historical fiction I have read, and without question, the best that's been told through the eyes of its protagonist, the Roman emperor Hadrian. Yourcenar's superb accomplishment is a fictitious memoir of Rome during the early years of the 2nd Century A. D. that is as mesmerizing as any work by the likes of genuine Roman historians such as Tacitus or Suetonius. Her memoir offers us a man who was truly one of the most liberal, and far-sighted, of Rome's early emperors; a philosopher-king who bequeathes his wisdom and knowledge to his adopted nephew and successor, the young Marcus Aurelius, in the form of a lengthy letter that is the text of Yourcernar's novel. This is an admirable, compelling portrait of a man who chose to rule wisely and well, forsaking the wars of conquest waged by his immediate predecessor Trajan, for a reign noted for its peace and prosperity and a successful effort to "re-hellenize" Rome by a devout admirer of Greek history and culture. This terse book is told in fluid, often lyrical prose ably translated into English by Yourcenar and her long-time companion, the American Grace Frick. Following the novel's conclusion, Yourcernar provides some compelling vignettes recounting how she finally wrote this book.
Rating:
Summary: Marguerite Yourcenar's Psychological Masterpiece
Review: Marguerite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian" is one of the finest examples of historical fiction I have read, and without question, the best that's been told through the eyes of its protagonist, the Roman emperor Hadrian. Yourcenar's superb accomplishment is a fictitious memoir of Rome during the early years of the 2nd Century A. D. that is as mesmerizing as any work by the likes of genuine Roman historians such as Tacitus or Suetonius. Her memoir offers us a man who was truly one of the most liberal, and far-sighted, of Rome's early emperors; a philosopher-king who bequeathes his wisdom and knowledge to his adopted nephew and successor, the young Marcus Aurelius, in the form of a lengthy letter that is the text of Yourcernar's novel. This is an admirable, compelling portrait of a man who chose to rule wisely and well, forsaking the wars of conquest waged by his immediate predecessor Trajan, for a reign noted for its peace and prosperity and a successful effort to "re-hellenize" Rome by a devout admirer of Greek history and culture. This terse book is told in fluid, often lyrical prose ably translated into English by Yourcenar and her long-time companion, the American Grace Frick. Following the novel's conclusion, Yourcernar provides some compelling vignettes recounting how she finally wrote this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent scholarship; Hadrian's ghost-writer too evident
Review: Marguerite Yourcenar, the author of the ambitious Memoirs of Hadrian, apparently was the first woman to be elected to the Académie Française, so she was no dummy. She must have guessed, for example, that an autobiographical-style novel about a Roman emperor would sell a lot more copies than a scholarly work about the life of a Roman emperor. At least, this is the only explanation I can imagine (I'll admit I haven't tried very hard) for Mme Yourcenar's decision to try to write this book from Hadrian's point of view, which is, in my opinion, its failing.
Yourcenar's impressive research is apparent throughout the work, giving the background to Hadrian's memoirs quite an authentic feel, at least to my decidedly amateurish, er, feelers. The point of view just doesn't work, though. Too often it is painfully apparent that a female attempting to be a male is writing the work--and I might as well say now that, no, I don't think I could any more successfully write from the point of view of a woman, and, yes, it is possible that I'm allowing some bias to influence my judgment here, since I did in fact know that a woman wrote this book before reading it. I can only tell you that I did not begin reading this book with a predisposed notion that a woman couldn't possibly write it from the point of view of a man, and you'll have to believe me. I think a woman probably could have pulled it off successfully, but Yourcenar did not.
Another problem with the book's point of view is that some of Hadrian's shockingly accurate predictions about the future make it slightly too apparent that "his" memoirs are being written by a modern person. Also, we occasionally have Hadrian--ostensibly writing his memoirs in a letter to his successor, Marcus Aurelius--explaining himself with his 20th/21st Century audience in mind, having to elaborate things that really would not have needed any elaboration. One brief example, as he writes, remember, to Marcus Aurelius:
Quote:
...I had you elected, out of friendship for your family, to the sacred college of the Arval Brethren, over which the emperor presides, and which devoutly perpetuates our ancient Roman religious customs."
Marcus Aurelius, of course, would have wondered why any of the sentence beyond "Arval Brethren" was necessary. This is just a trifling thing, but it is one of many examples in which Yourcenar had no other choice but to stop pretending to be Hadrian writing his memoirs, and had to be a scholar explaining something to her modern audience.
I should say that I did, in fact, enjoy this book, eventually, but I struggled with it much more than I had thought I would. Since I have some interest in history and the Romans, I had thought this would be an easy read; however, the point of view issue really did irritate me, leaving me wishing that Yourcenar had just written the scholarly treatise about the life of Hadrian that I mentioned in my opening paragraph. So, setting aside the work's unsuccessful point of view, let's move on to the good bits.
As I have said, Yourcenar's research into the life of Hadrian, and into the state of the Empire during his reign--its customs, quality of life, etc.--are impressive. For those of us who learned most of our Roman history, initially at least, in neat, glossed-over eras in our school textbooks, this personal view of Roman life is effective. Perhaps this is the one manner in which Yourcenar's chosen point of view is successful, because a third-person narration might have made the attention to detail more awkward. Yourcenar also is successful in her insightful presentation of Hadrian as Emperor and, particularly, as Human--and Hadrian undeniably is one of history's extraordinary figures, due to his actions as Emperor (determined, of course, by his thoughts and feelings as a human) and it is unfortunate that he is known primarily--if at all, thinking of the US here--for a wall he built on the outskirts of the Empire, something not even deemed worthy of a mention in this book. Some of his ideas and philosophies, while not necessarily his own originally, would be considered quite progressive today, and Yourcenar's portrayal shows him to be a shrewd, intelligent, businesslike man with an overriding desire to preserve the Empire by finding the best ways to make all of its citizens play nicely together, to render it simplistically.
The personal side of Hadrian is, as I have said, portrayed fairly successfully, but Yourcenar falls down again, I am afraid, when it comes to love. This could have been an area in which the author's ill-conceived (in my opinion) idea to write from Hadrian's point of view could have served to flesh out the character and the work quite well; instead, I once again sense the author struggling--and, in this case, I think it was a knowing struggle--with point of view. Hadrian's beloved is the young man Antinous, of whom he was clearly quite fond, considering that, upon Antinous's death, Hadrian established a religious cult based upon him which lasted several centuries, and the Emperor founded a city named after him, as well. Genuine affection never quite comes through in Hadrian's account, however, which I will put down to Yourcenar struggling mightily to put herself, a modern French woman living at a time homosexuality was considered an aberration, into Hadrian, a man who had lived centuries before during a time that homosexuality was considered to be normal...and then to express genuine emotion. This was--let's face it--a difficult task, and it is yet another reason why the point of view just doesn't work.
All in all, this is a good read and an excellent work of scholarship by Mme Yourcenar. As a supposed autobiography of Hadrian, its voice never feels right, and this left me struggling my way through it at times. I would still say it would be rewarding reading for anyone with a fascination with history, particularly with Roman history.
Rating:
Summary: Confronting death through life...
Review: One of the most important skills a student must acquirer when learning history, amongst others, is the ability to evoke a state of empathy for the time period under study. Names, dates and events can only provide us with the obvious and superficial, however, in my opinion, to actually attempt to place oneself emotionally at a particular place on the time-line, can give us a greater insight and a much more profound understanding. Through this method, too, history is not merely words on a page, but something tangible and relevant. ~Memoirs of Hadrian~ conjures the world of ancient times through the eyes of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, with such sensual accuracy that, wholly or in part, a conscious attempt at 'suspension of disbelief' is not necessary, because one can sit back and let the author do it for you...Yourcenar is a magician at literary prose. In her 'Reflection on the Composition', she writes a curious comment: "Time itself has nothing to do with it. It is always surprising to me that my contemporaries, masters as they consider themselves to be over space, apparently remain unaware that one can contract the distance between centuries at will." (276) This is a unique and somewhat mysterious skill to have, and a skill every historian should possess or at least learn, because history is so vital to the present day. This is a magnificent novel because it combines historical erudition with a superlative prose style, placing the reader into the time of one of the most fascinating Roman Emperors of the second century. As is well known to students of ancient Rome, Hadrian came to power after Trajan, and stopped Rome's imperialist expansion, concentrating his efforts on domestic issues, enriching culturally, Rome and her colonies. Hadrian was an expert politician, man of letters, artist, visionary, philosopher, investigator of the divine, poet and lover. He is known as the travelling Emperor, because he spent most of his reign abroad, visiting Rome's many colonies. The overall theme of this exquisite text is a man's confrontation with his mortality through recalling and narrating his life. Death is the central theme of this book. Hadrian is writing his memoirs to his benefactor, Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher Emperor, describing his life, and passing on what wisdom he thought he had gained over a long and full existence. Here is a man who confronted life with a fundemental curiosity, and wanted to face death with his eyes wide open... This novel is a classic and a must for historians and lovers of literature.
Rating:
Summary: Disappearing Rome
Review: Roman empire wasn't just that. The empire. Roman emipre consisted of teritory AND one man. "Father of the nation". The emperror.
Hadrien in this case.
To be the most powerfull man of the world, not just one of the, but the supreme power, and yet, to be fully aware of passability of things and time, of destruction that come with ages, to be aware of other things other than supreme military power, to be aware of philosophy, art, the very things that comprise culture, to be aware of legacy of the Greek to western civilisation, to be all that and with all that knowledge kept inside to play in political games neglecting emotions and relying only on reason, that indeed is a burden.
Burden that Marguerite Yourcenar presents in sheer realism, wtih strong but still somehow dreamy words that capture the essence of the roman age and the roman culture.
When you sit and get yourself ready to completely take the book to your heart, you'll be amazed by the awesome power that hides itself between it's pages.
It is the power of a dying man and a dead empire...power that was somehow imprisoned by this outstanding writer...
Rating:
Summary: Work of profound scholarship
Review: Seldom do we find a historical novel written with both so much scholarship and passion. Marguerite Yourcenar not only incarnates the soul and spirit of Emperor Hadrian but of his time as well (second century A.D.). Narrated in the first person, it is the written meditations of a sick man who holds audience with his memories. Suffering from gout, knowing that his remaining days are few, Hadrian leaves a testimony of his life, his accomplishments, his philosophical outlook on life, and some pieces of good advise for his successor Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian was an architect of peace as well as buildings, he felt responsible for sustaining and increasing the beauty of his world, and his duties forced him "to serve as the incarnation of Providence," to the point that he felt he was indeed divine. A lover of the arts, of Greek culture, of the occult, he was above all a pragmatic man whose motto was "Strength, Justice and the Muses." For him life was "like a horse to whose motions one yields, but only after having trained the animal to the utmost." His positive attitude in every life experience allows him to look back as a man fully satisfied... except in matters of love! His passion and tragic death of young Antinous reminds him that "love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul." It is history and story written with superb craftsmanship, the end result of painful and laborious 15 years of work and research. It is a psychlogically penetrating portrait of an outstanding figure in history; a man who was able to capture the spirit of his time, which in turn has been recaptured by the genious of Marguerite Yourcenar.
Rating:
Summary: the horse's mouth
Review: So many reviews have commented on how remarkable this book is that it's difficult to add anything to what has been said. It is a wonderful book, one to read again and again. I'm only making an attempt to add something because for me the most amazing aspect of this very great (and completely enjoyable) historical novel was how I forgot, while reading, that the author was not Hadrian himself. I can't think of any book where an author has so convincingly vanished behind the main character. Hadrian speaks! I also found the book easy to start reading and hard to put down At the end of his life, looking back through his memoir as imagined by Marguerite Yourcenar, the emperor doesn't try to create a picture of a man who is flawless. This most thoughtful leader was far from that. But by accepting himself as he was, he had the courage to lead. Any visitor to Rome feels the soul of the Emperor Hadrian, particularly, I think, in his most remarkable monument, the Pantheon. This is a book all travelers to Rome should read--before and after the visit.
Rating:
Summary: the horse's mouth
Review: So many reviews have commented on how remarkable this book is that it's difficult to add anything to what has been said. It is a wonderful book, one to read again and again. I'm only making an attempt to add something because for me the most amazing aspect of this very great (and completely enjoyable) historical novel was how I forgot, while reading, that the author was not Hadrian himself. I can't think of any book where an author has so convincingly vanished behind the main character. Hadrian speaks! I also found the book easy to start reading and hard to put down At the end of his life, looking back through his memoir as imagined by Marguerite Yourcenar, the emperor doesn't try to create a picture of a man who is flawless. This most thoughtful leader was far from that. But by accepting himself as he was, he had the courage to lead. Any visitor to Rome feels the soul of the Emperor Hadrian, particularly, I think, in his most remarkable monument, the Pantheon. This is a book all travelers to Rome should read--before and after the visit.
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